Limbaugh Family Unites After School Board Controversy

WILLISTON---School officials are breaking ground and burying a controversy.

A confederate soldier and his family buried on their family homestead long ago was discovered on land that has since been bought by the school board for Williston's new middle and high school.

Some family members still want to make sure the school board did everything correctly.

Some of Rufus K. Limbaugh's descendants are calling the ordeal with the school board "ancient history", while others are still looking for some peace.

And they are still working with the CA Pound Lab at the University of Florida to make sure the remains of the confederate solider, his two wives and infant daughter and those in an unmarked grave are removed entirely.

Many generations of Limbaughs gathered in the same room Saturday.

Some didn't even know each other, others haven't laid eyes one each other in years.

"After 125 years, that how long ago he was buried, that we can gather up this much family," said R.K. Limbaugh's great grandson Steve Limbaugh.

And it's because of the controversy surrounding Rufus K. Limbaugh, the patriarch of this family and the city of Williston, who passed away in 1889.

Limbaugh, along with his two wives and his infant daughter, were buried on land that the Levy County School Board has since purchased for a new middle and high school.

Limbaugh's descendants gave permission for the remains to be moved but the school board did not allow family to be present for the removal and reburial.

And that left a sour taste in their mouths.

"I hope that the school board will remember that they were supposed to build a memorial garden and put a sign up that recognizes the site as the historical Limbaugh cemetery," said the Civil War veteran's great granddaughter Ethelene Barton Streater.

During our investigative report in May, forensic anthropologists and archaeologists questioned whether the graves were removed correctly and legally.

Some of Limbaugh's great grandchildren still want the school board to consider having experts from the CA Pound Lab at the University of Florida look into those claims and ask that the unmarked grave on the site is addressed.

"If there are remains in the unmarked grave, we know who they are and we want them added to what was moved," said great granddaughter Jean Mann.

The Levy County School Board's attorney, Chip Koval, says that the school board has no further comment regarding the Limbaugh family cemetery.